Written By Srimathi Mani on Saturday, January 14, 2012 | 8:08 PM

Happy Pongal!

Pongal is a very special celebration for me since childhood. It was special because it used to be a three day holiday and the weather would start to warm up. Everywhere we went, one would see homes all cleaned up and decorated with beautiful kolams. The joy of eating warm pongal off the stove was very comforting indeed. I remember the afternoons when we used to sit down and enjoy chewing on sugar cane. Among all that the television was grand those three days with a zillion shows and movies to enjoy. It was such a traditional festival for the people of Tamil Nadu. Today, I wish you all a very happy pongal and love to share a recipe that I made this morning. Enjoy!

Gadgets:

Pressure Cooker

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Heavy Bottom Pan

Grater
Bowl to cook the rice.

Ingredients:

Rice (Long Grain Rice) - 1 cup ( usually new rice is used)

Moong Dal - 1/3rd cup

Channa Dal - 2 tbsp

Milk - 2 cups

Water - 4 cups plus 1 cup for the pressure cooker

Jaggery - 2 cups

Water - Enough to cover the jaggery

Nutmeg - 1/4th tsp grated

Cashew Nuts - 1/4 cups broken pieces

Roasted Sliced Almonds - 1/4 cup ( From Trader Joe's )

Raisins - 1/4 cup

Ghee - 2 tbsps

Cardamon - 6 pods powdered

Saffron - a pinch
Salt- a pinch

Preparation:

1. Heat the pressure cooker with 1 cup of water.

2. In a wok dry roast the dals separately and add to a vessel.

3. Wash the rice with water and add the roasted dal to it.

4. Add 2 cups of milk and 3 cups of water and pressure cook to 1 whistle on high heat and 2 whistles on low heat.

5. Heat the jaggery and cover it with water just enough to cover it.

6. Once the pressure is realized heat the heavy bottom pan with ghee. Add the nuts and raisins and allow it to get lightly toasted. Add grated nutmeg and add 1 cup of water to stop the nuts from getting burnt.

7. Add the pressure cooked dal and rice to the wok and mix well. Add the melted jaggery and allow to cook on low heat. Add a pinch of salt.

8. Make sure the pongal is not thick but is loose because the pongal will thicken when it starts to cool.